What happens if you mess up?

[T123G123]

Hi everyone,

I talked to a friend who had an operation and one of the nurses wasn't informed and gave him a solid meal afterwards, he was throwing up for about a week since the stomach couldn't digest it.

This was a terrible accident and of course nurses are super careful, I'm sure you have to be on the job. What happens though if you make a mistake like that, or something that harms a patient?

Would you be allowed to stay in the job or be kicked out or what? Is there any room for mistakes when you're a nurse or is it over if you mess up?

Sorry for a provocative and probably super naive question but wanted to ask.

T123G123

[Scrubby]

If every nurse who made a mistake was kicked out then there wouldn't be many of us left. I haven't met an experienced nurse yet who hasn't made any type of error.

There are many reasons why errors occur, fatigue, carelessness, understaffing, over-confidence etc. The main things is that we learn from our mistakes so we prevent them happening again.

[Babs0512]

Doctors, Lawyers, Wallmart Salespersons, the President of the United States and Nurses are all human and we all make mistakes.

Thank goodness the majority of mistakes are minor, like the previous poster stated, if you kicked everyone out who made mistakes, heck, there wouldn't be anyone left in any job in America.

Some mistakes are big ones, and sometimes a nurse or other professional will need to be let go, but those are the rarity, thank goodness.

Blessings

[racing-mom4, BSN, RN]

I cant belive your friend could get down the solid meal after the operation--and throwing up for an entire week?? what was it an all you can eat Thanksgiving meal??

[T123G123]

I cant belive your friend could get down the solid meal after the operation--and throwing up for an entire week?? what was it an all you can eat Thanksgiving meal??

That was what he told me (the throwing up part).

[T123G123]

Doctors, Lawyers, Wallmart Salespersons, the President of the United States and Nurses are all human and we all make mistakes.

Thank goodness the majority of mistakes are minor, like the previous poster stated, if you kicked everyone out who made mistakes, heck, there wouldn't be anyone left in any job in America.

Some mistakes are big ones, and sometimes a nurse or other professional will need to be let go, but those are the rarity, thank goodness.

Blessings

Out of curiosity, what kind of mistake would be considered a "major" mistake? I heard that as a nurse you get instructions written down about what you need to do with each patient, is that correct?

The reason I'm asking these seemingly random questions is because I know nothing about nursing but it is something I really want to explore.

I appreciate all of the feedback.

T123G123

[Babs0512]

Yes, the doctors write orders that nurses, respiratory therapy, physical therapy, etc... are expected to follow, providing the order is not harmful to the patient. Since we don't know the whole story, the order may have read, something like this: Clear liquids, advance diet as tolerated.

This would mean, start with clear liquids, if the patient is tolerating them, move to full liquids like milk, if patient tolerates those, can then start solid foods. Perhaps your friend tolerated everything but started chucking when solids were given to him? I don't know, that is just one scenario.

Another could be that dietary accidentally gave the wrong tray to the wrong patient, and your friend ate what was given, prematurely.

Another possibility, the nurse made an error, and allowed your friend solid foods before they were ordered.

It's not necessarily a nursing error. That is your presumption. I've given three legitimate possibilities.

Here is a 4th, perhaps friends or family snuck food in for your friend. Goodness knows, that happens all the time.

Your right, the doctor writes orders, but any type of error can occur, from the nurse, dietary, the nursing assistance and well meaning family members.

To answer your question, a "major" mistake is certainly open for discussion and a matter of opinion. To me, a major error: Giving thin liquids to a stroke patient who is suppose to have thicken liquids, this makes the patient choke and aspirate liquids into her lungs, then she develops pneumonia, giving the wrong medication and killing a patient accidentally, the patient is physically restrained, and manages to hang themselves accidentally while trying to get out of the restraints. These are "major" errors. Of coorifice there are many, many types of major errors, but these are a few off the top of my head. IMO.

Blessings

[shelly304]

Schedule an appt with a career counselor at a college near you. Maybe the college you graduated from with your teaching degree! You could speak with the head of the nursing faculty and get a great overview of their program. Also, this would give you a heads-up on what pre-reqs you will need if you do not already have those covered. Good luck on your career move!